Patient education, collaboration allow safe deprescribing in older adults

Deprescribing among older adults can be improved by overcoming systemic barriers, enhancing patient education, and implementing structured guidelines, suggests a study.

Furthermore, an interdisciplinary collaboration and the use of digital tools, such as electronic health records, can guarantee safety in the course of medication discontinuation.

“Deprescribing, the process of stopping unnecessary medications, is essential for optimizing pharmacotherapy in older adults but is hindered by systemic, knowledge, and patient-related barriers,” said the investigators, who conducted this qualitative study via in-depth interviews with 52 physicians to explore barriers, facilitators, and potential improvements in deprescribing practices.

They also conducted a thematic analysis to identify key insights and patterns from the collected data.

Several barriers to deprescribing were found, including limited healthcare access in rural areas and knowledge gaps in geriatric pharmacology among resident doctors. This process was further complicated by patient-specific challenges, such as advanced age and multiple comorbidities.

Another serious barrier was the chronic use of certain medications, such as proton pump inhibitors and benzodiazepines. Systemic and logistical issues (eg, inefficient workflows and poor interdisciplinary coordination) also hindered medication deprescribing among older adults.

Some factors that facilitated deprescribing were patient acceptance, which was essential for adherence and outcomes, and the active participation of educated patients in shared decision-making processes.

“A growing acceptance of deprescribing among doctors, especially in government healthcare, was observed, with effective communication key to overcoming patient resistance and building trust,” the investigators said.

“Targeted interventions are essential to optimizing deprescribing and improving older adults’ health outcomes,” they said.